Franciscan Spirituality — Diana Turner-Forte

the Sophia Portfolio

I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety…. For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. …For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets… NRSV, Wisdom 7:21-28

Diana Turner-Forte, curates the Sophia Portfolio an emerging collection of courageous women through the ages. Presented in the form of videos, poetry, prayers and essays, the Sophia Portfolio is a repository of the divine feminine as embodied through a multicultural array of women who reflected their divinity throughout their lives; the divine feminine made visible. Who is Sophia? She is the seat of life and the epitome of Wisdom and she is within us all. Some of her attributes are: humility, love, joy, nurturance, hope, discernment, kindness, rebirth, and vitality. She is the fire that burns within us and doesn’t let up until we’ve grown to a fuller expression of our true selves. She is the life and vitality of rebirth. She has been with us through the ages and is with us now in these times of transition. Some of the women I’m inspired to present include: Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Clare of Assisi, Mary Magdalene, Miriam, Sojourner Truth, Mary of Nazareth as the Black Madonna, Kateri Tekakwitha, Etty Hillesum, Mahalia Jackson, Mary Ann Carroll, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Maria Tallchief, Fannie Lou Hamer, Elizabeth Cotten, Seraphima of Syria, Thea Bowman, Rebecca Jackson, Julia Greeley (Angel of Denver), Julia Ward Howe, La Mulatresse Solitude, Pauli Murray, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, Mine Okubo, Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, Barbara Johns, Bishop Barbara Harris, Claudette Colvin, Belle de costa Greene, Nina Simone, Viola Luizzo, Mary Church Terrell, Rosa Parks, Isabella Van Wagener (Sojourner Truth), Harriet Tubman (Moses), Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, Queen Sophie Charlotte, Lucille Clifton, Josephine Bakhita, Barbara Holmes, Shirley Chisholm, Sophie Scholl, Shirley Anita Chisholm, Aracellis Girmay, Emmy Perez, Simone Schwarz-Bart, Marian Wright Edelman, Faith Ringgold, Brenda Aminah Robinson, Queen Brooks, Lourdes Bernard, Yinko Shonibare, Zanele Muholi, Alma Thomas, Sarah Moore Grimke . . .